York computer science Professor Michael Jenkin, Faculty of Pure & Applied Science, and the research team that put together the swimming robot dubbed AQUA made the news once again yesterday. The Montreal Gazette, Calgary Herald and Vancouver Sun, Jan. 29 editions, all carried stories about the remote robot that can swim, walk and manoeuvre easily through the ocean and is even capable of navigating the complexity of coral reefs. AQUA features the latest in 3-D computer vision and robotics technology. The ‘bot is a collaborative effort of Canadian university scientists including Jenkin, McGill University Professors Martin Buehler and Gregory Dudek, and Professor Evangelos Milios from Dalhousie University.
Osgoode grad to head up Arar inquiry
Osgoode Hall Law School graduate Justice Dennis O’Connor (LLB ’64) has been asked to head the inquiry into the Maher Arar case. A Jan. 29 story in The Globe and Mail noted that O’Connor, who is associate chief justice of Ontario, built a reputation as a man so impartial even his close associates in his law firm did not know what political party he supported.
On Air
- Stephen J. Brooke, history professor in York’s Faculty of Arts, appeared on the CBC’s “Counterspin” Jan. 28, in a panel discussion about the implications of the Hutton inquiry, its mandate and questions surrounding Tony Blair’s push for war in Iraq.